Statistics of Cultivation of Sugar. 73 



north, the cultivation of the cane would bo remunerative 

 only at those points where, as, for instance, at Fayal and San 

 Jorge, ground and temperature are most favourable for it. 

 To judge by the soil and climate, the cultivation of the cane 

 in Madeira might, with care, even at the present time, prove 

 advantageous. In the south-west part of Lousiana, where, 

 in 1796, this plant was introduced exclusively for the manu- 

 facture of Taffiay* there exist at present as many as 1500 

 sugar factories, producing annually, on an average, 200,000 

 hogsheads of sugar. The planter of Madeira is not, as in 

 Lousiana, obliged by the frost to cut the cane before it is 

 ripe ; there it ripens thoroughly, blooms in January, and is 

 harvested in March. 



The motive power of the sugar- mills is mostly water and 

 steam. There are also a dozen large distilleries at work, 

 possessing the most modern English improvements. An acre 

 of land, planted with sugar-cane, is said to yield from 100 

 to 120 Spanish piastres, a result for the landowner more 

 profitable than that arising from the cultivation of the vine, 

 even in its best days. 



As regards the culture of cotton, for which the climate 

 and soil are peculiarly suitable, no attempt has as yet been 

 made. The same remark applies to olive trees ; though 

 the Government ordered the latter to be planted so long ago 

 as 1768. The cultivation of tobacco, however, is pre- 

 vented from extending, being a government monopoly. As 



* A beverage resembling brandy in taste, much liked in tlie West Indies. 



